AssuranceAmerica breach exposes 6.9 million driver licenses

A major U.S. auto insurer has confirmed a data breach affecting the personal information of nearly seven million people, marking the largest known theft of American driver's license data so far this year. AssuranceAmerica, an Atlanta-based company operating in more than a dozen states, began notifying 6,998,886 affected customers this week after concluding a months-long investigation.

The company first detected suspicious activity in its computer systems on March 17, tracing the intrusion to malicious activity targeting an employee the previous day. An investigation involving external forensic specialists determined that an unauthorized third party accessed portions of the company's IT environment and copied data files. The review of those files, completed on June 15, revealed the theft of a wide range of sensitive customer information.

The compromised data includes names, contact information, driver's license numbers, automobile insurance policy and account details, driver and vehicle information, and claims-related information. At least one source also indicates Social Security numbers may have been involved. Notification letters to customers were scheduled to be sent starting...